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You Have Cancer. You Are Beautiful.

Having cancer as a teen or young adult can throw your life off track. Just when you’re learning to drive, planning your prom, or playing your favorite sport, you find yourself sick, bald, and in the hospital. And you worry about your appearance – especially if you’re a girl.

That’s why 17 young women with cancer, aged 13-22, recently spent a weekend of fun together, thanks to a generous donor. They stayed at a hotel, went shopping, practiced cooking, had makeovers, and posed for portraits. The portraits were recently unveiled – not at an art gallery, but at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, where the girls are in various stages of treatment.

Their reflections on Girls Weekend:

“You could relax and feel normal.”

“You could be with others on your level.”

“You didn’t have to worry about having cancer.”

The portraits will preserve these girls at a moment of strength and beauty, and friendships made during Girls Weekend will last a lifetime.

Dana-Farber offers a number of resources to help men and women with cancer look and feel their best, at any age. Visit Friends’ Place in person or order products online.

9 Comments:

My daughter Pat was diagnosed with Breast Cancer on her 30th birthday. Pat had many bouts with this disease. Had a bone marrow transplant in Virginia, one of the first there for Breast cancer. She did survive for a few years after. It did not cure the bone cancer that eventually took her life. It did give her a few more years with her young children.I have also had a breast removed. It was five years ago last October. So happy these young girls can have a chance to some good times. Pat has been gone fifteen years. So much has changed since then. Keep up the good work.

This story and the donor, for the weekend, make my heart full! I praise all the young women for their courage to battle their diseases publicly with more strength than many of us would think is possible! You are all beautiful, strong and courageous! Keep smiling and fighting!

What a wonderful gift for someone to give these lovely young women! I imagine the bonding they did on that weekend WILL last a lifetime. I wish I could see all of their photographs on-line; is this possible? Did I miss something?

We are all so grateful for the wonderful care our son has received at Dana Farber, going way back to Autumn, 2004 when he was 26. Thanks for being “our peeps”; you are the best!